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“He was not only a fantastic kid in training, but his behaviour was excellent.

“I told him straight that I had seldom met such a brilliant young footballer, and that in my opinion he would become a really great player. I said, ‘I would like you to join Norwich City immediately’."

Carson, who denied 12 counts of indecent assault and one of inciting a child to engage in sexual activity, went on to describe how Beckham declined his offer of a place at Norwich in favour of an opportunity he had been offered at Manchester United .

Beckham went on to play nearly 400 times for the club he supported as a boy.

Cambridgeshire police said Carson was driving his red Mazda 3 when it left the road and crashed into a tree on the A1303 at Bottisham on Monday morning - the day he was due to stand trial.

He was alone in the car and he was declared dead at the scene despite the emergency services' efforts to save him, said police.

He was charged with the alleged sexual abuse offences at Cambridge Crown Court last year after being arrested in January 2017. There is no suggestion that David Beckham was one of the alleged victims.

At Peterborough Crown Court, prosecutor Jeremy Benson said: "The position is that the defendant died yesterday morning.

"He was involved in a road traffic collision at about 9.45am yesterday.

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"No other vehicles were involved and there is an investigation being carried out and therefore I don't propose to go into any other detail."

The prosecutor added: ”The position is that the car was registered to Mr Carson and the person who died was of the appropriate age and had in his possession identification documents in the name of Mr Carson and also yesterday afternoon at approximately 4.30pm the body was identified by Mr Carson's widow."

Inspector Amarjit Singh QPM told the court the body of Carson was formally identified by his wife Pauline Carson.

Carson was previously worked at Norwich City, Peterborough United and Cambridge United.

He also worked extensively in Finland where he began coaching youth teams in 2012, taking UK youth teams on competitive tours of the country.

The trial was due to be presided over by Judge Matthew Lowe, who ruled that the case file be closed.

Cambridgeshire police said in a statement: "Police have identified a man who died following a single-vehicle crash on the A1303 at Bottisham yesterday morning (7 January).

"Michael Carson, 75, of St Bartholomew’s Court, Cambridge, was driving his red Mazda 3 at about 9.45am when it left the road and crashed into a tree.

The scene on the A1303 near Bottisham in Cambridgeshire (Image: James Linsell-Clark/ SWNS)

"Emergency services attempted to save Mr Carson’s life but he was declared dead at the scene a short time later.

"No other vehicle or person was involved in the collision.

"Mr Carson was due to stand trial at Peterborough Crown Court, beginning yesterday, on multiple sexual assault charges alleged to have happened between 1978 and 2009.

"The victims have been informed and efforts are being made to contact all the witnesses.

"Anyone who saw the collision or has dash cam footage should call 101, quoting incident 100 of 7 January."

The A1303 was closed between Bottisham and the A14 while police carried out an investigation."